CONFLUENCE

CONFLUENCE…down by the riverside

And the audience said:

“So beautiful. And, I liked how everything flowed together–not just separate pieces but all connected, like a journey, like a dream.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time on rivers – canoeing, fishing, camping. This show… all the different dances, it really… it felt like many of my experiences on rivers. You captured something ‘real’ about what it’s like to be on a river.”

“The DAMN/DAM section was about the Milwaukee [River] dam? It made me think of all the reasons for and against the dam…not just the politics. Thanks.”

“I hope you find a way to present this again. It’s amazing and beautiful. I think you should find a way to do this in other places.”

“Have you ever lifted up cupped hands filled with crystal coolness and let it cascade back into the river through thankful fingers?”

Kirsten Shead’s (Interfaith Earth Network) contemplation of river water at the beginning of CONFLUENCE…down by the riverside begins the journey downstream. Her story of river water rituals woven into the song Down to the River to Pray, sung a Capella by Julianne Frey, starts the story of rivers created and developed by DanceCircus director, Betty Salamun and In the Dance Café director, Janie Boston.

CONFLUENCE – down by the riverside is a celebration of Milwaukee’s three rivers in a full-length performance of dance, song, music, story and images of the rivers performed at Next Act Theatre just blocks from the rivers’ confluence March 17-20, 2016.

Travel along Milwaukee’s three rivers – Milwaukee from the north, Menomonee from the west and Kinnickinnic from the south–and trace the rivers’ flowing within and between communities’ with15 dancers, singers, musicians, and writers from across the city.

Six dancers from both DanceCircus and In the Dance Cafe grab rod and reel with spoken-word artist Priscilla Price’s reflection on DAMN/DAM to ‘go fishing’ in our damaged rivers.

Singer Shirley Mallett and percussionist Carl Storniolo rock Down By the Riverside with the low-down on river water quality.

Composer Curtis Eubanks’ original composition Somethin’ About Those Rivers brings the challenges of our rivers into a ‘confluence’, a meeting place, talking about community, commerce and change.

The inspiring river photos of URBAN WILDERNESS by Eddee Daniel show the status of and transformations occurring to our rivers, parks and waterways.

Pre-show talks about the rivers with staff from Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Urban Ecology Center and Milwaukee Water Commons on the state of our rivers, and,
post-show conversations with the artists make for an engaging evening of dance, music, spirituality, ecology and community.

TICKETS at Next Act Theatre Ticket Office 414.278.0765 or http://boxoffice@nextact.org/.

CONFLUENCE…down by the riverside, an original collaborative dance-theatre program, is created with funds from the City of Milwaukee Arts Board, the Wisconsin Arts Board, Milwaukee County CAMPAC The Meyer & Norma Ragir Foundation, The Peter and Lorraine Salamun Family Trust and individuals.

DanceCircus presents CONFLUENCE – down by the riverside

An original dance-theatre-music performance by DanceCircus director, Betty Salamun and In the Dance Café director, Janie Boston. Stories of journeys along Milwaukee’s rivers flowing within and between communities within the watershed.

CONFLUENCE – down by the riversidecreated by choreographers BettySalamun,DanceCircus, and Janie Boston, In the Dance Café, featuring dancers, singers, writers and musicians in a dance-music-theatre performance celebrating life in the watershed of Milwaukee’s rivers – Milwaukee from the north, Menomonee from the west and Kinickinic from the south. Performing at Next Act Theatre’s Performance Space 255 S Water St, Milwaukee WI 53204 just three blocks from the confluence, 15 artists collaborate in a celebration of the beauty of rivers and their impact on our communities. Performance Thursday, Friday and Saturday March 17-19 at 7:30pm and Sunday March 20 at 3:30pm measure the journey of each river to the confluence reflecting the varied perspectives within our community.

This full-length performance of original and collaborative works includes Kirsten Shead’s (Interfaith Earth Network) world stories of water rituals reflected in Down to the River to Pray with Julianne Frey’s lyrical a cappella singing. Six dancers from both companies take rod and reel to spoken-word artist Priscilla Price’s reflection on DAMN/DAM. Singer Shirley Mallett and percussionist Carl Storniolo rock Down By the Riverside with the low-down on river water. Composer Curtis Eubanks’ original composition brings the challenges of our watershed into the confluence for a meeting of community, commerce and change. And, astonishing river photos by Eddee Daniel brings the status and transformations of our rivers into perspective.

CONFLUENCE…down by the riverside is created with funds from the City of Milwaukee Arts Board, the Wisconsin Arts Board, Milwaukee County CAMPAC, The Meyer & Norma Ragir Foundation, The Peter and Lorraine Salamun Family Trust and many donors.

Ticket $18 general,

$10 students/seniors,

veterans/military, artists, and members of environmental agencies/organizations.

Throughout DanceCircus’ 40 years, Betty has choreographed the impact of environmental problems and solutions – dams, non-point pollution and reclamation, industrial, residential and recreational uses – and, creating movement concepts to express natural beauty and ecological reality. Working with text, movement, song and narrative for 20 years, Janie employs the arts as a catalyst for change. Her company, in the Dance Café, uses the music of Black spirituality, contemporary spiritual texts and modern dance to explore the power within ones self.

Milwaukee’s three rivers – Milwaukee from the north, Menomonee from the west and the Kinnickinnic from the south – come together, a “confluence,” in a single common area before flowing into Lake Michigan. This area floats commercial and recreational vessels; houses sewage treatment and fresh water research; and courses past abandoned stretches, industrial buildings and upscale residential developments. These rivers and the confluence are free flowing sources of inspiration, metaphors of journeys and life passages and mark sacred gathering places. Synthesizing images from environment, the science of rivers and sacred river songs inspires DanceCircus Artistic Director Betty Salamun’s collaboration with In The Dance Cafe’s Artistic Director Janie Boston to create “CONFLUENCE – down by the riverside” premiering spring 2016.

CONFLUENCE brings together singers, dancers and musicians from the community company In The Dance Café and the modern dance company DanceCircus to collaboratively develop and perform a full-length concert event. Both dance-based companies, which share studio space in the Pevnick Building on 27th Street west of Marquette University, present live performances with artists across disciplines.

CONFLUENCE explores Milwaukee’s rivers as metaphor for the journey within and between communities as the focal point of a new dance-theatre performance. Betty Salamun and Janie Boston start the collaboration, like the three rivers, from different points of awareness. Betty’s 40 years of exploring the impact of environmental problems and solutions – dams and culverts, non-point pollution and reclamation, industrial, residential and recreational uses – creating movement concepts to express natural beauty and ecological reality. Working with text, movement, song and narrative, Janie’s work employs the arts as a catalyst for change. In The Dance Cafe performances use the music of Black spirituality, contemporary spiritual texts and modern dance to explore the power within ones self.

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